Ctna. Rojo X Ctna. Keith roth is losing roots!!! Please help!
 

I mounted this orchid about two weeks ago and I was looking today and some leaves are wrinkled along with some of the Pseudobulbs. After taking it off the mount most of the roots are brown and mushy!!! What do I do??!!

Also....What does Ctna. stand for?

I can't find a Ctna Rojo in Orchidwiz.

I'm assuming it's more likely Lc Rojo
x Cattleytonia Keith Roth (Cattleya bicolor x Broughtonia sanguinea)

I can't imagine why the roots would turn mushy with it being mounted unless you've been soaking it :scratchhead:

Are there any good roots?

Cattleya alliance plants are sometimes particular about repotting/mounting, and sulk unless they are in a growth phase, with new roots starting to show. Were new roots growing when you mounted the plant? Did you cover the roots with sphagnum moss - have any photos? Hope we can help.

Tjere are a couple few good roote left. And yes there eas some nre growth and there are pictires on my profile thing.

I mount thousands of orchids and the problem with Cattleya alliance is that they do not get enough water.

The thing I find unusual is that the symptoms you see happened so fast, so I think they predate the mounting.

Over the course of a year a mounted Cattleya will discard all its old roots as it grows new roots exposed on the mount.

I do not think I have ever seen pseudobulbs wrinkle in two weeks.

The plant by the way is named Ctt. Rojo x Ctna. Keith Roth. It does not appear to have been registered.

It used to be Lc. Rojo (C. aurantiaca x L. milleri), but the C. aurantiaca was moved to the new family Guarianthe and the L. milleri along with all the non-Mexican Laelia were moved to Cattleya, hence Ctt. Cattlianthe. And so much more for the useless information section.

I am in the process of updating all 2500 photos on my web site with their new names so I can not get them out of my head just now.

A couple of comments based on the photos in your gallery (just my :twocents:, of course!):

It looks like your plants already had a lot of rotted roots, probably from the pot staying too wet for a long time. The few good ones were on top of the medium and got more air. I think Jerry's right about the plant responding now to previously-occurred damage.

Not as familiar with the aurantiaca and bicolor parents (thanks for the ancestry info, Sue and Jerry!), but Cattleya (Laelia) milleri and Broughtonia sanguinea both need exceptionally good drainage and very high light to do well. I recently got a Bro. sanguinea mounted bare on a stick and was instructed to only water it on very sunny days.

You may see better results remounting with a much smaller sphag pad and only watering when the plant dries off. Bright light, high humidity, and good air movement will also be beneficial. Your plant should sprout a new flush of roots with the next new growth cycle. Good luck and good growing!

--Nat

Thank you all! And that is weird that it is a Ctt. because my tag says Ctna. So should i re-mount it or re pot it?

What do I do??

hey mike - so you said in chat that you repotted this one ?
try some kln or superthrive to encourage root growth.
be sure to not over water - use a skewer in the pot to help determine when to water - I let Catts be almost completely dry (very slight dampness detected on skewer by touching it to face and it feels just slightly cool)

gl!

Yes I did. Sorry about the chat and getting off so quickly my computer booted me off, again. So how far down does the skewer go?

no worries ;)
If you are growing in a plastic pot, place the skewer about midway between the center of the pot and the rim - but doesn't need to be exact. In a clay pot, skewer should be as near the center of the pot as you can get it. You can push it all the way down to bottom of pot - but at least half-way. Try to always put the skewer back in the same place to minimize damage to roots once you get some going.
I leave the skewers in the pots, but some people don't. If you don't leave them in, give it at least an hour to absorb moisture before you check.

That sounds great:) So I plan on getting superthrive soon. So what do I do when I get it?

Initially you can use 1/4 tsp per gallon of water when watering. Tho for prolonged use, only use a drop or two per gallon of water.
When I have plants that have few or poor roots, I may use 2-3 drops in just enough water to soak the whole pot for 10 - 30 minutes.
Hard to say if it definitely helps or not - but it's worth a shot

Have you had success with the Superthrive?

well I haven't done any controlled testing, but I'm happy with it

So there is noticeable difference?

And what does Ctt. stand for? And since my tag is all wrong what is it's true name? Also on the bottom of the tag it says "'Highland'" Does that mean anything special? And does cayyleya care work for this genus?

The reason for the Ctt. is the result of the 'scientist' re-classifying many orchids. It was done last year and the name tags are the old classifications.

Ctt is short for Cattlianthe (Cattleya x Guarianthe) Guarianthe is a new sub-famly of Cattleya into which some formerly Cattleya were moved.

All those old and common Blc orchids are almost all different now.

I am in the process of correcting all the names with parentage for the photos on my web site but have 800 Cattleya to go. About 90% of the Cattleya Alliance on my gallery require new names.

They are all still Cattleya alliance and the grwoing care is the same regardless of the unfamilier names.

Ok that works:) Thanks!

So, I thought I would update you all on the progress. It has put out six or seven new root growths with the longest almost reaching an inch! Thank you guys for saving my very first orchid!!!!!!

awesome! good growing!

Thanks! And that was all without KLN or Superthrive. I was too cheap for either lol.

So 1 of the roots stopped growing and lost it's green tip after only being about an inch long. There is another one that barely has any green left but the rest still all have their green tips is this normal? If not, what can I do?

mine do that sometimes, they get all nice then stop the green tip and just dry out. since yours is mounted, the humidity in the air must not be high enough. dont mistake that with keeping the spagh wet. moist medium and moist air are different things. im noone to speak but maybe a humidifier or something like that will work. dont use humidity trays. they dont work i guess and unless their in an enclosed area like an aquarium, they make little to no difference in humidity :/